Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari

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Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari (Persian: محمد کاظم شریعتمداری), also spelled Shariat-Madari (1905, Tabriz – 3 April 1986, Tehran), born to an Azeri family in Tabriz, he was among the most senior leading Twelver Shi'a clerics in Iran and Iraq and was known for his somewhat liberal views. After the death of Supreme and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi (Marja' Mutlaq) in 1962 he became one of the leading marjas, with followers in Iran, especially Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Kuwait and the southern Persian Gulf states. He recognized Ayatollah Khomeini as a Grand Ayatollah in 1963 saving his life from being killed by the Shah since according to the Iranian constitution a Marja' could not be executed. Khomeini was exiled instead. As the leading Mujtahid he was the head of Qom's seminary until Khomeini's arrival. He was in favour of the traditional Shiite view of keeping clerics away from governmental poistions and a vehement critic of Khomeini. He headed the Center for Islamic Study and Publications and was the administrator of the Fatima Madrasa in Qum.

In April 1982, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh was arrested on charges of plotting with military officers and clerics to bomb Khomeini's home and to overthrow the state. Ghotbzadeh denied any intentions on Khomeini's life and claimed he had sought to change the government, not overthrow the Islamic Republic. He also implicated Ayatollah Shariatmadari, who, he claimed, had been informed of the plan and had promised funds and his blessings if the scheme succeeded. Ghotbzadeh's confessions came only after severe torture on the part of the Iranian government. Shariatmadari's son-in-law, who was accused of serving as an intermediary between Ghotbzadeh and the Ayatollah, was sentenced to a prison term and a propaganda campaign was mounted to discredit Shariatmadari. Shariatmadari family member's were arrested and tortured. According to a new book containing the memoirs of Mohammad Mohammadi RaiShahri, a leading player in the Iranian Government and the head of the Hadith University in Iran, the Ayatollah himself was beaten with Raishahri doing the beating. All this forced the aging Ayatollah to go on national television and read out a confession and asking forgiveness from the man he had saved from death two decades ago. Because of his position as a mujtahid, the government could not publically execute him. His Center for Islamic Study and Publications was closed, and he remained under house arrest until his death in 1986 where he was poisoned by the government. His body was taken to an unknown location for burial. Clerics were prevented from attending his funeral prayer drawing criticisms from Husein Montazeri, one of the lead players in the Iranian revolution.

[edit] Sources

• Moojan Momen Shi'i Islam Yale University Press 1986
• Shaul Bakhash, Reign of the Ayatollahs, ISBN 0-465-06887-1
• Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran